Engineering giant Rolls Royce has posted a record pre-tax loss of £4.6bn for 2016 – following a bribery settlement and a fall in the pound.
Profit fell to £813m, down from £1.4bn the previous year, although once one-off costs had been stripped out, the fall was much smaller than forecast by many analysts.
Last year, the jet engine maker agreed to pay £671m to settle corruption cases with UK and US authorities, and it has written off £4.4bn from currency related contracts.
The majority of aerospace deals are done in dollars, which saw the company hit hard as the pound slumped following the result of the EU referendum.
Chief executive Warren East claimed the outlook for 2017 was for a “modest performance improvement”.
Rolls Royce is in the process of a major cost-cutting drive.
On taking his position in 2015, East was tasked with turning the struggling company around.
He added: “We must ensure our wide ranging business transformation programme delivers the full benefits expected, not only in terms of cost savings but also the cultural and behavioural changes necessary to ensure the transformation is sustained and high standards of business conduct are maintained.
“These are essential if we are to become a more trusted, resilient company.”
Rolls Royce has apologised “unreservedly” for corruption cases, which spanned 25 years.